Name: Valentina Gutierrez Date: May 10, 2014

Job Shadow: Suggested Questions for Students

These are questions to ask your Host during your Job Shadow. You may make up questions
yourself if you wish. Be sure that you understand your hosts answers and write them down. You
should keep the sheet for your portfolio.

Host Name: Alison Bologna (Owner/Director)

Company/ Organization: Shri Studio

1. What are the responsibilities at Shri Studio?

Shri Corps
Hire employees who are also self sufficient teachers (are reliable, trusted with
studio, and can manage all of their classes on their own.)
Train employees
Maintain studio
Schedule
Register/Bookkeeping
Marketing
Outreach (is about 85% of job)
Meeting with different organizations such as:
Senior citizen
Shelter
Schools
Teach classes
Curriculum Writing
Board meetings
Annual Reports
Fundraising (At least 3 big fundraiser per year.)






2. What kind of education and training have you had?
Northwestern University
Columbia University (Grad school)
Harvard (Masters in Literature
Certified yoga instructor:
Teacher training 2006
Kripallu
Jivmutti (Yoga school in New York)
Little Flower Yoga (Yoga training in New York)


3. What types of skills and personality traits are good or important for this job?
Friendliness
Good listener
Time management
Strong voice (Literally and figuratively)
Organizational skills


4. How did you decide to do this kind of work?

Alison was already living in the neighborhood, had all the necessary training, so it just felt like
the next thing to do, to open up a yoga studio that was affordable. Moreover, there were a group
of teachers who wanted to be a part of it.

5. What education and training does an entry-level employee need?
Yoga instructor training


6. What it a starting salary in this business?
At Shri Corps, Instructors get paid per class at a nonprofit flat rate of $35.
At Shri Studio. instructors get paid a fixed rate, plus $8 per student. Its more of a part time job.
However, instructors also have:
Free access to the studio
Access to any classes
Free or subsidized teacher training.
The manager also gets payed a flat rate per month.



7. What do you like most about your job?
Meeting new people
Seeing students do things they never thought they could do before.
Building compassion in people.

8. What do you like the least?

Bookkeeping
(Paying for rent, heat, etc.,)
Schedule making

9. What challenges do you currently face with your work here?:

Finding substitutes for instructors in difficult, because teachers are expected to manage
all of their classes on their own.
The organization is growing so fast!
There are organizations on a waitlist, not because of funding, but because of too
much going on.
Its hard to keep up with the demand.

10. What advice would you give a student interested in this career?:
Work as an intern.
Work behind the scenes.
Volunteer for setups and breakdowns.
Learn about everything that makes up planning and event, and everything that happens
months before.
See everything:
Websites
Designing
Budget
Networking






Job Shadow Reflection

My job shadow at Shri Studio with Alison Bologna was an enjoyable experience. My
favorite part of the day was when Alison would introduce me to her friends and customers. It
was fun to talk to them, learn about their jobs, and for them to ask me questions about what I was
doing, and what school I go to. Basically, I enjoyed the social aspect of the job. However, my
least favorite part of the procedure was the experience of writing down the answers Alison gave
me. Sometimes it was difficult to keep up with all of the information that she was sharing. What
surprised me was how well Alison knew all of her customers, and the small personal details she
knew about their lives; it made the entire experience much more intimate, as I listened to their
conversations (because I was invited to, of course) and nodded along.
While at Shri, Alison introduced me to an older woman who told me she wished she had
started yoga at a younger age, and that she thought it was great that I was getting involved at
such a young age. Later Alison introduced me to the woman who translates all of her
curriculums and paperwork into Spanish. The woman told me that she was Colombian, and I
smiled and told her that I was born in Colombia, too. The rest of the morning was spent with
Alison welcoming customers and signing them in. Next, Alison led a yoga class. The class itself
was invigorating, even for someone who was just watching. The music played went very well
with the poses that the men and women were practicing. Finally, I sat down with Alison and
someone who was interested in her business, and interviewed her.
The most important thing that I learned at this Job Shadow was the idea that working at a
nonprofit is perhaps not the best source of money. Alison imparted to me the fact that Shri
Studio was really more like a project that she could occupy herself with, because she already had
a full time job as a reporter for Channel 10. Nevertheless, I recommend this job shadowing
experience to other students, because Shri Studio is an amazing place for the community to come
together. Moreover, it is an opportunity for students to meet a person like Alison, who has been
successful in various areas in life, and aims to create a connected neighborhood.